The simplest modern televisions are two dimensional. These televisions consist of a screen and a means for connecting to a cable or similar broadcast network, as well as means for connecting to the internet and means for connecting to a laptop or desktop to view online streaming videos. However, recently, several advanced televisions have been developed.
For example, three dimensional televisions, such as the 3D HDTV manufactured by Samsung Corporation, optimize the viewing experience of 3d videos. However, there are relatively few movies that are designed to be viewed in 3d, as opposed to the plethora of traditional videos available. Also, currently available cable, and telephone company based broadcast services do not provide any 3d content, thereby reducing the value to the user of 3d televisions.
A 3D television system and method is described in detail in US App. 2005/0185711, incorporated herein by reference. See also US App. 2006/0007301, US App. 2006/0184966, U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,836, expressly incorporated herein by reference.
3D images can be generated if a 3D model of the environment exists. See, e.g., US App. 2006/0061651, incorporated herein by reference. These images could be used in 3D video games or movies.
Other 3D imaging techniques are known in the art and used in a broad range of fields ranging from medicine to architecture. See, e.g., US App. 2010/0124368; US App. 2010/0123716; US App. 2010/0118125; US App. 2010/0110162; US App. 2010/0110070; US App. 2010/0097374; US App. 2010/0091354; US App. 2010/0086099; US App. 2010/0085358; US App. 2010/0063992; US App. 2010/0061603; US App. 2010/0060857; US App. 2010/0045696; US App. 2010/0039573; US App. 2010/0034450; US App. 2010/0026909; US App. 2010/0026789; US App. 2010/0007659; US App. 2009/0322742; US App. 2009/0315979; US App. 2009/0310216; US App. 2009/0297011; US App. 2009/0297010; US App. 2009/0295805; US App. 2009/0295801; US App. 2009/0279756; US App. 2009/0273601; US App. 2009/0272015; US App. 2009/0262184; US App. 2009/0262108; US App. 2009/0237327; US App. 2009/0213113; US App. 2009/0195640; US App. 2009/0189889; US App. 2009/0185750; US App. 2009/0184349; US App. 2009/0181769; US App. 2009/0179896; US App. 2009/0169076; US App. 2009/0167595; US App. 2009/0164339; US App. 2009/0161989; US App. 2009/0161944; US App. 2009/0154794; US App. 2009/0153553; US App. 2009/0148070; US App. 2009/0146657; US App. 2009/0144173; US App. 2009/0141024; US App. 2009/0128551; U.S. Pat. No. 7,719,552; U.S. Pat. No. 7,715,609; U.S. Pat. No. 7,712,961; U.S. Pat. No. 7,710,115; U.S. Pat. No. 7,702,064; U.S. Pat. No. 7,699,782; U.S. Pat. No. 7,697,748; U.S. Pat. No. 7,693,318; U.S. Pat. No. 7,692,650; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,019; all expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Many different automatic pattern recognition techniques are also known in the art. See, e.g., US App. 2010/0121798; US App. 2010/0115347; US App. 2010/0099198; US App. 2010/0092075; US App. 2010/0082299; US App. 2010/0061598; US App. 2010/0047811; US App. 2010/0046796; US App. 2010/0045461; US App. 2010/0034469; US App. 2010/0027611; US App. 2010/0027606; US App. 2010/0026642; US App. 2010/0016750; US App. 2009/0326841; US App. 2009/0324107; US App. 2009/0297021; US App. 2009/0297000; US App. 2009/0290800; US App. 2009/0290788; US App. 2009/0287624; US App. 2009/0268964; US App. 2009/0254496; US App. 2009/0232399; US App. 2009/0226183; US App. 2009/0220155; US App. 2009/0208112; US App. 2009/0169118; US App. 2009/0152356; US App. 2009/0149156; US App. 2009/0144213; US App. 2009/0122979; US App. 2009/0087084; US App. 2009/0087040; US App. 2009/0080778; US App. 2009/0080757; US App. 2009/0076347; US App. 2009/0049890; US App. 2009/0035869; US App. 2009/0034366; US App. 2009/0010529; US App. 2009/0006101; US App. 2008/0319568; US App. 2008/0317350; US App. 2008/0281591; US App. 2008/0273173; US App. 2008/0270338; US App. 2008/0270335; US App. 2008/0256130; US App. 2008/0246622; U.S. Pat. No. 7,707,128; U.S. Pat. No. 7,702,599; U.S. Pat. No. 7,702,155; U.S. Pat. No. 7,697,765; U.S. Pat. No. 7,693,333; U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,588; U.S. Pat. No. 7,685,042; U.S. Pat. No. 7,684,934; U.S. Pat. No. 7,684,623; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,677,295; all expressly incorporated herein by reference.
In addition, Commons teaches a hierarchal stacked neural network that is useful in pattern recognition in U.S. Pat. No. 7,613,663, incorporated herein by reference.
Video cards or graphics cards, which separate graphics processing from the CPU in laptop and desktop computers, are also known in the art. Lower end video cards are recommended and function efficiently for simple computer use that is not graphics intensive, such as Word processing, reading email, and occasionally watching an online or computer-disk-based video. However, individuals who frequently play picture and video-based computer games frequently require more complex, higher end video cards. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_card, last accessed May 7, 2010, incorporated herein by reference, for a more detailed discussion of video card technology.
In single instruction multiple data (SIMD) technology, a computer with multiple processing elements performs the same operation on multiple data simultaneously. Many video cards use SIMD because similar transformations might need to occur to multiple pixels simultaneously. In old computers where the graphics processor is part of the central processing unit (CPU), SIMD is typically used for the graphics processing. Young, U.S. Pat. No. 6,429,903, incorporated herein by reference, describes a video card that is optimized by using shading techniques before ascertaining the color change on a pixel on the screen.
Several methods of 2D to 3D image conversion are known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,573,475, expressly incorporated herein by reference. Many of these methods utilize techniques to review and analyze 2D images and employ algorithms to determine distance in the image by way of brightness, manual judgment, and rotoscoping algorithms. Thus, these methods are malconfigured for use in 3D televisions and often cannot convert images seamlessly and in real time, as required by many 3D television viewers. See also U.S. Pat. No. 7,573,489; US App. 2009/0322860; US App. 2008/0150945; US App. 2008/0101109; US App. 2007/0279415; US App. 2007/0279412; and US App. 2004/0165776; each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Currently known methods of 2D to 3D conversion are not very practical, and filmmakers typically spend excessive amounts of financial and human resources to recreate 2D movies in 3D. For example, in spite of Disney's great investment of both talent in money in creating a 3D version of Chicken Little, the depth perception by viewers of the movie was still very poor. See, generally, Wikipedia: Chicken Little (2005 film), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Little_(2005_film), last accessed May 21, 2010, discussing the process of producing Chicken Little; and Dipert, Brian, “3-D Stop Motion: Well-Deserved Promotion,” EDN, Oct. 31, 2007, discussing the poor viewer experience in the 3D version of Chicken Little.
Samsung Corporation provides a system and method for 2D to 3D conversion of substantially arbitrary television programs in the UN55C7000 1080p 3D LED HDTV. See www.samsung.com/us/consumer/tv-video/televisions/led-tv/UN55C7000WFXZA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail, last accessed Jun. 2, 2010. However, Samsung's system and method is not optimal because it has a high error rate, provides inconsistent images to the right eye and the left eye (where the user is wearing 3D glasses), and has a tendency to give viewers headaches and motion sickness or otherwise discomfort them. See, generally, mashable.com/2010/03/09/samsung-3d-tv-starter-kit/, last accessed Jun. 2, 2010. Samsung's patent application on the topic, US 2009/0237327, incorporated herein by reference, notes that the right eye signal in the glasses repeats part of the left eye signal. See also, US 2009/0290811, incorporated herein by reference.
3D televisions have the potential to improve viewer experience by providing an additional dimension in which viewers can view scenes. For example, viewing a 2D sportscast is a much lower quality experience than viewing a game in a stadium in part because the 2D TV viewer cannot appreciate depth. 3D TV has the potential to solve this problem. However, a major negative feature of 3D TVs is the lack of content. What is needed in the art is an effective system and method to convert substantially arbitrary content from two dimensions to three dimensions.